Accepted for Publication: May 30, 2020.
Corresponding Author: Josep Tabernero, MD, PhD, MSc, Medical Oncology Department, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital (HUVH) and Institute of Oncology (VHIO), IOB-Quiron, UVic-UCC, Barcelona, Spain (jtabernero@vhio.net).
Published Online: September 3, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.3370
Author Contributions: Drs Shitara and Tabernero had full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Study concept and design: Shitara, Van Cutsem, Bang, Fuchs, Shah, Tabernero.
Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: All authors.
Drafting of the manuscript: Shitara, Chung, Goekkurt, Wainberg, Tabernero.
Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Shitara, Van Cutsem, Bang, Fuchs, Wyrwicz, K. Lee, Kudaba, Garrido, J. Lee, Castro, Mansoor, Braghiroli, Karaseva, Caglevic, Villanueva, Goekkurt, Satake, Enzinger, Alsina, Benson, Chao, Ko, Wainberg, Kher, Shah, Kang, Tabernero.
Statistical analysis: Caglevic, Kher, Tabernero.
Obtained funding: Karaseva, Tabernero.
Administrative, technical, or material support: Van Cutsem, Garrido, Castro, Mansoor, Karaseva, Villanueva, Ko, Kang, Tabernero.
Study supervision: Shitara, Bang, Fuchs, Chung, Braghiroli, Villanueva, Wainberg, Shah, Kang, Tabernero.
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Shitara reported grants from Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma, Daiichi Sankyo, Chugai Pharma, Medi Science; grants and personal fees from Taiho Pharmaceutical, Merck Pharmaceutical, grants and personal fees from Ono Pharmaceutical, Astellas, Eli Lilly and Company, personal fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Novartis, AbbVie, Yakult, and GlaxoSmithKline outside the submitted work. Dr Van Cutsem reported other from Merck during the conduct of the study; grants from Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Ipsen, Lilly, Merck, Merck KGaA, Novartis, Roche, Servier; personal fees from Array, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Biocartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Halozyme, GlaxoSmithKline, Incyte, Ipsen, Lilly, Merck, Merck KGaA, Novartis, Pierre Fabre, Roche, Servier, Sirtex, and Taiho outside the submitted work. Dr Bang reported other from AstraZeneca, Novartis, Genentech/Roche, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Merck Serono, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Taiho, Daiichi Sankyo, Astellas, BeiGene, GreenCross, Samyang Biopharm, Hanmi, and Genexine; and other from Merck Sharp & Dohme, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Genentech/Roche, Merck Serono, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim, MacroGenics, Boston Biomedical, Five Prime, Curis, Taiho, Takeda, Ono, Daiichi Sankyo, Astellas, BeiGene, Green Cross, CKD Pharma, and Genexine outside the submitted work. Dr Fuchs reported personal fees from Agios, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Bain Capital, CytomX Therapeutics, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Entrinsic Health, EvolveImmune Therapeutics, Genentech, Merck, Taiho, and Unum Therapeutics outside the submitted work; Dr Fuchs also serves as a director for CytomX Therapeutics and owns unexercised stock options for CytomX and Entrinsic Health and is a cofounder of EvolveImmune Therapeutics and has equity in this private company. Dr Wyrwicz reported personal fees from Merck Sharp & Dohme during the conduct of the study. Dr K. Lee reported grants to his institution from Merck Sharp & Dohme during the conduct of the study; grants to his institution from Ono Pharmaceutical, Merck KGaA, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer outside the submitted work. Dr Garrido reported grants from Pfizer; personal fees from Merck Sharp & Dohme and Bayer; and grants and personal fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb outside the submitted work. Dr Chung reported grants from Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Merck Serono, Bristol-Myers Squibb/ONO, Taiho, Amgen, and BeiGene; personal fees from Merck-Serono, Lilly, and Foundation Medicine; and other from Taiho, Celltrion, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Lilly, Quintiles, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck Serono, Gloria, BeiGene, Amgen, and ZymeWork outside the submitted work. Dr Braghiroli reported other from Merck Sharp & Dohme during the conduct of the study; and personal fees from Merck Sharp & Dohme, Roche, and Bayer outside the submitted work. Dr Karaseva reported grants from Merck Sharp & Dohme during the conduct of the study. Dr Caglevic reported personal fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Andes Biotechnologies, and Lilly and nonfinancial support from Roche outside the submitted work, and participation in clinical trials for Merck Sharp & Dohme, Medivation, AstraZeneca, Roche, Astellas Pharma, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Andes Biotechnologies. Dr Villanueva reported personal fees from Merck Sharp & Dohme during the conduct of the study. Dr Goekkurt reported personal fees from Merck Sharp & Dohme, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Servier outside the submitted work. Dr Satake reported grants and personal fees from Ono Pharmaceutical, Taiho Pharmaceutical, and Takeda; personal fees from Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly Japan, Merck Bio Pharma, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Sanofi, and Yakult Honsha outside the submitted work. Dr Enzinger reported personal fees from Astellas, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Five Prime, Lilly, Loxo, Merck, Taiho, and Zymeworks outside the submitted work. Dr Alsina reported personal fees from Lilly, Servier, Merck Sharp & Dohme, and Bristol-Myers Squibb outside the submitted work. Dr Benson reported grants from Merck during the conduct of the study; grants from Astellas, Celgene, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Taiho Pharmaceutical, Rafael Pharmaceuticals, Medimmune/AstraZeneca, Xencor, and SynCore; grants and personal fees from NCCN, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck Sharpe and Dohme, ECOG-ACRIN, Amgen; personal fees from Guardant, Terumo, Lexicon, ACCC, Imedex, Artemida Pharma, Array (Pfizer), and Eisai outside the submitted work. Dr Chao reported grants, personal fees, and other from Merck during the conduct of the study; grants from Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics; personal fees and other from Lilly, Foundation Medicine, and Daiichi Sankyo, Macrogenics, and Amgen; personal fees from Boston Biomedical, AstraZeneca, Taiho Pharmaceutical, and Ono Pharmaceutical outside the submitted work. Dr Ko reported grants from Merck during the conduct of the study; grants from Roche/Genentech, Merrimack, Celgene, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Apexigen, Abgenomics, Astellas, and Halozyme and personal fees from Erytech and Imugene outside the submitted work. Dr Wainberg reported grants from Novartis and Plexxikon and personal fees from Merck, Lilly, Array, EMD Serono, Five Prime, and Molecular Templates outside the submitted work. Dr Kher reported being an employee of Merck & Co. Dr Kang reported other from Merck & Co during the conduct of the study; in addition, Dr Kang had a patent to MK 3475. Dr Tabernero reported personal fees and other from Array Biopharma, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BeiGene, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chugai, Genentech, Genmab A/S, Halozyme, Imugene Limited, Inflection Biosciences Limited, Ipsen, Kura Oncology, Lilly, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Menarini, Merck Serono, Merrimack, Merus, Molecular Partners, Novartis, Peptomyc, Pfizer, Pharmacyclics, ProteoDesign SL, Rafael Pharmaceuticals, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Sanofi, SeaGen, Seattle Genetics, Servier, Symphogen, Taiho, VCN Biosciences, Biocartis, Foundation Medicine, HalioDX SAS, and Roche Diagnostics outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.
Funding/Support: This study and assistance with medical writing were funded by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, a subsidiary of Merck & Co, Inc, Kenilworth, New Jersey.
Role of the Funder/Sponsor: Employees of the sponsor were involved in the design and conduct of the study, in collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data. Uma Kher, Sukrut Shah, and S. Peter Kang, employees of the sponsor, are authors and were involved in the review, or approval of the manuscript, and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Meeting Presentations: Presented in part at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (ASCO) 2017; June 2-6, 2017; Chicago, Illinois; ASCO Annual Meeting 2018; June 1-5, 2018; Chicago, Illinois; the ASCO Annual Meeting 2019; May 31-June 4, 2019; Chicago, Illinois; the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2019; July 3-6, 2019; Barcelona, Spain; and the ESMO Congress 2019; September 27-October 1, 2019; Barcelona, Spain.
Additional Contributions: We thank the patients and their families and caregivers for participating in the study, all primary investigators and their site personnel, Jonathan Cheng, MD, PhD, for critical review of the manuscript, Xiaodong Li, PhD, for statistical support, and Luana Atherly-Henderson, PhD, all of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, a subsidiary of Merck & Co, Inc, Kenilworth, New Jersey, for assistance with manuscript editing. A complete list of investigators who participated in the KEYNOTE-062 study is provided in eTable 1 in Supplement 2.
Data Sharing Statement: See Supplement 3.
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